Tag Archive: The Ten Plagues

I’ve always wondered about curses from God, and how they manifest themselves in the 21st century. I’ve read about the locusts, plagues and boils thousands of years ago. How about now? How would you know if you are cursed? I got an idea of what a curse looks like when I heard a story that made me shiver. These are all pseudo-names.

The tenth plague of Egypt...

John was a god-fearing man. He lived a quiet life with his wife and three sons. However, his youngest son Peter was particularly rebellious and trouble always seemed to look for him. One night Peter came home drunk with a teenage girl hanging on his arm. John was outraged and gave his son a thorough tongue lashing. Peter, incensed at being embarrassed in front of his new catch, hit back, with both words and blows, and left his father writhing on the floor in physical and emotional pain. John, in his anger, told Peter that he shall never name any of his sons after him.

Ten years later, John had passed on, and Peter was on his second marriage. He had been trying for a son for almost five years, but had only one daughter, Susan. Peter’s home was a picture of poverty. His wife, thin and frail from years of physical abuse, hardly spoke any more. She didn’t sing as she used to, or dance to her favourite songs. Peter was happy when Susan finally found someone who would marry her, and who could afford to pay a handsome dowry. That was one less mouth for Peter to feed.

Susan settled into her new home and bore three sons and one daughter. Her eldest son James, now twenty-three years old, was very frequently away from home. He seemed to have developed a liking for a girl from a neighbouring village. One sunny Saturday afternoon, James brought home the girl, so his parents could meet her. Susan took one look at the young girl and screamed. She held her head in her arms as if she was in great pain, then fell to the floor wailing, “James, what have you done? What disgrace have you brought upon this family?” James tried to get his mother to explain what she meant, but she only wailed louder. Her frail body could not take it any more and she fainted. James’ father came out to see what the commotion was about, and casually greeted the young girl by her name.
“How are you, Linda?” he asked. “You know Linda?” asked James.
“Yes, she’s your cousin,” came the reply.

One month later, James committed suicide. He could not marry the girl he thought was the love of his, and who was pregnant by him. He could not live with the disgrace he had caused his family.

In order to take care of the young Linda, who was now three months pregnant, Susan and her husband decided that Linda he would be married by James’ younger brother Oscar. However, Oscar would hear none of it, and when Susan threatened to disown him if he did not comply, he disappeared. His body was found two days later hanging from a mango tree on the farm. When Linda was six months pregnant, her blood pressure shot up without apparent reason. She miscarried a baby boy who would have been named after his great grand father.